Not Budgeting Enough Can Be Costly

Throughout the course of our frugal living, we have had our share of flops - meals that no one would eat, sewing projects that ended up being a waste of time and materials, expenses that could have been avoided with better organization, and on and on. Would you expect any less from the woman who spent $17 on 6 chocolate-covered pretzel rods?

But there is one flop that always sticks out in my mind. It was a huge learning experience for me and something that I struggled against changing, because I knew I could make it work if I just tried harder. That flop was under-budgeting.

See, I used to make the mistake of thinking I was only frugal if I spent next to nothing all the time. I believed my success in frugality was directly tied to how much less I spent month after month. So I budgeted that way, constantly shaving dollars off here and there throughout our budget.

However, I wasn't being realistic and that ended up costing us a lot more money each month. I felt a false pride in spending only $200 per month on groceries. And I turned a blind eye on all those little trips to the grocery store to just pick up one or two items because we were out of food. We were probably spending over $400 a month on groceries, but my budget of $200 was set in stone, so obviously I was winning at this frugal thing.

Eventually, Eric pointed out to me that these little trips were really adding up. I realized he was right, but I fought against changing my budget. After all, wouldn't that knock me off this frugal pedestal I was on? I redoubled my efforts and worked every angle possible in an attempt to keep our budget at $200.

Then one day, I just gave up. I don't remember what the specific incidence was that set me off, but I know it was something big. My eyes finally opened and I realized my claimed budget was a joke. And because I was so stuck in that pattern of disbelief, we were actually spending way more every month than necessary.

So Eric and I discussed the situation and agreed that upping our budget really made sense. I upped it $100 and started really relying on menu planning and monthly grocery shopping, just because that was worked best for me staying on task. Being realistic and dropping my pride taught me a huge lesson.

My dad used to have a list of quotes hanging in his office. One of them that has stayed with me throughout my life is - "Proper preparation prevents poor performance." I relate this to my frugality by thinking "proper preparation prevents poor pockets." Now that my budget is properly prepared, our wallets have seen the benefit.

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